It is frequently the case that a tamper evident connector is required between electrical components in order to give evidence that the electrical connection has been released. Such a tamper evident connection can show unauthorised interference with an electrical connection and may also be useful in discouraging accidental disconnection.
A tamper evident connection is useful where electrical continuity must be maintained except for maintenance purposes, for example to permit a computer memory to be re-set, or a capacitive electrical storage to be deliberately discharged so as to avoid an electrical shock.
In order to, for example, start an appliance by means of a starting switch, a connector connected to a circuit on the switch side is connected to a connector connected to a circuit on the appliance side, making terminal fittings of both the connectors establish contact electrically, the appliance beginning to operate after the operation of the switch causes a starting signal to be sent.
In such a device, in the state where the connectors are in a separated state, since the terminal fittings are exposed towards the exterior along the connecting faces of the connectors, there is a possibility of foreign matter entering the interior of the female connector and of foreign matter getting attached to the male terminal fitting.
Accordingly it is desirable to cover the connecting faces of the connectors in order to protect them, and to uncover them when necessary. A cover may be envisaged that could be clamped on so as to cover the connecting faces of the connectors. However, merely clamping on the cover may be insufficiently secure. Moreover, although it is conceivable that a locking arm be provided on the cover and the locking arm be fitted to the connector so as to lock the cover thereon and to prevent separation, since in a locking means it is normally the case that a locking release operation can be carried out, there is always a possibility of the cover being separated due to deliberate or inadvertent release of the lock.
As described above, in the conventional device there is no suitable means for effecting with certainty the maintenance of an attached state of a member corresponding to a connecting portion that is connected to a terminal fitting in a connector. Taking the above problem into consideration, the present invention aims at providing a connector that can maintain with certainty an attached state of a member corresponding to a connecting portion that is connected to a terminal fitting in a connector.